Some existing dental restorations, such as crowns, formed of glass and/or glass ceramic materials are produced by grinding bodies of compacted and heat treated glass and/or glass ceramic particles. Such bodies can be produced by mechanical compacting (e.g. uniaxial pressing) of inorganic powders often together with an organic binder first. The shape of the resulting compacted body can be limited to the shape of the compacting tool used. In some cases, cylindrical or cuboid shaped bodies can be obtained. Such compacted bodies can then undergo a heat treatment to increase the mechanical strength of the compacted bodies. Such a heat treatment can take place at a temperature that causes at least partial sintering of the powder. During such a sintering step, the density of the body of compacted powder can be increased. The resulting compacted and heat treated bodies can then be adhesively fixed in a frame or attached to a holder to prepare them for grinding to a desired shape (e.g. a dental crown or dental facing). The ground bodies can then be removed from the frame. Machining of the compacted bodies which have not been heat treated may not be possible due to the low mechanical strength of the compacted powder.
In addition, in some existing dental systems, a core is milled and then sintered (e.g., to full density). A veneer can also be milled from a mill blank and fused to the core, for example, with a slurry forming an intermediate layer between the core and the veneer. The veneer can then be sintered to the core.
Moreover, in some existing dental systems, dental restorations, such as crowns, can be produced using a manual process of covering a core layer-by-layer with veneering slurries (e.g., using a small brush). Firing steps can be included after application of each layer.
Finally, in some existing systems, solid free form fabrication methods employing additive processes, such as three-dimensional printing, have been used to form various dental restorations. For example, in some cases, direct or indirect additive deposition or printing methods are used to build up a dental restoration on a die or in a mold.